


Let's Get Territorial

by therealjanebingley



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Animal Tendencies, Chat Noire - Freeform, Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Kwami Swap, Miraculous Side Effects, More Fluff, Panic Attacks, Scent Marking, Sharing a Bed, Wonder Bug, i have no idea how to tag this, just a bunch of fluff, now with chapter 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealjanebingley/pseuds/therealjanebingley
Summary: Chat Noire and Wonder Bug talk about how their miraculous affect them.He wants to eat aphids, and she wants to stake her claim.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 21
Kudos: 186





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn't a patrol night.

Chat Noire was out anyways, leaping over rooftops and testing the limits of her physical abilities. Double backflips, front handsprings, split leaps - her miraculous let her do moves she didn't even know the names of.

She finished with a floor routine that would make an Olympic gymnast jealous. Hands in the air, cool wind playing with her braid, the sound of clapping off to the side.

She turned sharply, relaxing when she spotted Wonder Bug. He continued clapping from where he sat, on a raised ledge at the edge of the roof, laughing when she bowed exaggeratedly. 

"Excellent performance," he praised as she approached. "A ten from the French judge."

Chat chuckled as she plopped down next to him. "That gold medal is mine."

"I got a notification from the WonderBlog that you were spotted out and about," he said, leaning back on his hands. "If you're doing gymnastics, I'm guessing there's no emergency?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "I just needed to get out for a bit."

"Mmm. I get that."

She studied him for a minute. Her partner seemed so relaxed most of the time - where she overthought everything, he jumped straight into battle. Where she planned out the timing and delivery of her attacks, he dodged akumas like a child playing a game with his friends. He could be serious, even angry at times, but most of the time he seemed so easygoing and carefree. There were thousands of pictures of him on the Wonderblog, confidently posing in front of his fans, in a crowd of reporters, or in the middle of a battle. With his wild blond hair, bright green eyes, and black-and-red paneled suit, he was like the poster child for super-heroism. 

"You get...restless in your civilian life?" she asked. He tilted his head to one side, and she rushed to clarify: "Normally when I'm stressed, I have a creative outlet that helps me work out all of my anxious energy. But sometimes there's a kind of restlessness that doesn't go away until I put on the suit, you know?"

He nodded all through her explanation. "Absolutely."

Chat bumped her shoulder into his. "You never seem anxious, Bug. Between the two of us, I'm definitely the nervous wreck."

He snorted. "I'm good at repressing things. Good at - good at masks, I guess." Chat frowned, but before she could say anything, he continued: "But it's not anxiety that drives me to transform most of the time. It's more like..." he grappled with the words for a moment. "I can feel trapped in my civilian life, and being Wonder Bug reminds me that I'm free."

Chat took in his words, tucking them away in her mind. "That makes sense. I never see you out when I'm running around, so I assumed this was just another cat thing I've picked up."

"Well, my schedule is pretty - wait. Another cat thing?" Wonder Bug sat straight up, eyes bright, a smile creeping onto his face. "You have cat things?"

"Ugh." Chat Noire put her head in her hands. "I have some cat tendencies because of the miraculous. Forget I said anything."

"No way," he said, leaning towards her. "I want to know everything. Do you take naps in sunbeams? Catch mice? Drink milk from a saucer?"

She laughed and shoved him away. "Yes, Bug, I sometimes fall asleep in sunny spots. I've never caught a mouse, but I do drink more milk than I used to. I keep destroying all my yarn, and I get the urge to-" She fell silent.

He looked over at her, brows furrowed. "You get the urge to what?"

Her face flushed. "Nothing. Never mind."

"Kit-Kat." He drew out the nickname.

"It's embarrassing!"

"I'll trade you," Wonder Bug offered. "One embarrassing fact for another. Here's mine: I've been sneaking out of my house to find aphids in my neighbor's garden."

"That's not-"

"To eat, Kit-Kat. I eat aphids now."

Chat burst out laughing. "Okay, that's funny."

He gave her an exaggerated pout. "It's not funny, it's gross. I'm embarrassed now, and the only way to make me feel better is to tell me something embarrassing about you." He spread his hands in front of him. "Solidarity."

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "I get the urge to - to scent mark people."

"No fair! That's not embarrassing." He pouted again. "It's just a territorial thing, right?"

She nodded, but couldn't meet his gaze. 

"It's not weird to want to claim your friends or your family."

Chat took a deep breath. "It's not them I want to claim. It's just - it's just you." She finally met his eyes, and they were blown wide as he stared at her, mouth slightly open. "Sorry, I know that's weird," she said quickly, "that I have this compulsion to mark you as mine, because you're my partner - you can just forget I said anything." She pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her head in them.

There was a moment of silence, punctured by Wonder Bug's low voice. "You can do it, if you want."

Her head snapped up. "What?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting around. "You can scent mark me, if you want. I don't-" He finally looked at her, cheeks pink. "I don't mind."

If it had been anything else, Chat would have protested, would have stubbornly refused to do something that strange. But the temptation to mark him was so strong that she found herself nodding. "If you're sure."

Chat got to her feet and stood in front of him. When they were standing side-by-side, he was nearly a full head taller than her; sitting in front of her now, he was a few inches shorter. 

In the distance were cars and people and music, but Chat couldn't hear any of it. Wonder Bug was uncharacteristically quiet and still, hands clasped in his lap, eyes wide and full of some emotion she couldn't quite read. She reached forward tentatively, resting her fingers on his shoulders.

As Chat leaned forward, she saw Bug's eyes flutter closed, and for a second she was overwhelmed with a very different impulse - to press her lips against his. She scolded herself instantly; that was not what he gave her permission to do.

Slowly, she rubbed her cheek against his.

* * *

It took all of Wonder Bug's self-control to stay still. His partner's hands feather-light on his shoulders, her body so close as she stood between his legs, her skin warm and soft as she smushed her cheek into his face. Every instinct told him to reach out to her, but he caught his hands before they could find her hips. 

This moment felt so intimate, so sacred, that he hardly dared to breathe.

Instead he sat there, eyes closed, as she moved to rub the side of her face into his hair. Her grip on his shoulders tightened, and he had to physically stop himself from pulling her closer. She moved to his other cheek, letting out a contented little hum, one of her hands moving to hold his chin in place as she rubbed her cheek against his. 

And then she was gone, leaving the air cold and his face tingling.

Wonder Bug forced his eyes open, a little hazy and unfocused, to see that Chat had retreated to her original seat beside him. She stared across the roof, face flushed. Wonder Bug raised a hand to his cheek. He wasn't sure why, but he very nearly started crying.

Before he knew what he was doing, he said, "Thank you."

She looked at him, confusion written all over her face. "What?"

"I don't-" His brain was still too fuzzy from her ministrations. "In my civilian life, I don't always feel..." He thought of dinners alone in his giant dining room, of Nathalie's kind but distant demeanor, of his father and the word _no_ , and it came out before he even thought it: "...wanted."

Her eyes went soft, and she moved closer to him, close enough that their shoulders brushed. "Well, you've been claimed now," she said, a note of teasing in her voice.

 _Claimed_. Warmth flooded through him. He liked being claimed - he liked being _hers_. "Now all the other cats know," he teased, "I'm yours."

Chat turned away, but he could see her smile.

"I almost thought you were purring there, at the end," he said, because his filter still had not caught up with him. "Can you purr?"

She tilted her head to one side, considering. "I don't know."

"Can I - ?" He reached towards her, slowly enough that she could tell him to back off or smack his hand away, but she didn't do either of those things. She let him rest his hand in her inky black hair, and he wished he could feel how soft it was without the suit in the way.

He scratched at the top of her head. Her radioactive-blue eyes closed and she hummed in pleasure again, but it wasn't quite a purr. So he brought up his other hand to scratch near the base of her skull. Chat melted against his side, a low rumbling sound in her chest.

He kept scratching her head, completely ruining her braid, but neither of them cared. She wriggled closer, tucking herself under his arm, slinging her legs over his lap. Her purr got louder and louder as he scratched behind her ears. Her whole body slumped against him, arms loosely wrapped around his torso. 

Wonder Bug decided that if his appetite for aphids was the price he had to pay for this moment, it was definitely worth it.

They stayed like that for a while, him carding his fingers through her hair and her purring loudly against his chest. He hadn't felt that warm in a long, long time.

"Kit-Kat?" he asked, and she hummed in acknowledgement. "What do I smell like to you?"

She rubbed her face against him again, eyes still closed. "You smell like me."

It was dark when they separated. Based on how relaxed and content Chat was, Wonder Bug knew it wouldn't be difficult to convince her to do that again sometime. If cuddling was a part of her cat tendencies, he was happy to oblige.

And the next day, when he was sitting by himself eating breakfast, he didn't feel so alone.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonder Bug reveals he's been having nightmares, and once Chat Noire learns what they're about, she comes up with a plan to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Wonder Bug has a panic attack in this chapter. It's based on my own experience with panic attacks, and the description focuses on hyperventilating, shaking, and crying.

Wonder Bug knew Chat Noire wouldn't just let him go. It had been a few weeks since she'd scent marked him, and their relationship was much the same as it had always been.

(Nino had asked why Adrien seemed so glum as their teacher explained what _regression to the mean_ was. Adrien pretended not to hear.)

One thing had changed. Wonder Bug couldn't decide whether or not he regretted saying to his partner: "I'm good at masks." On the one hand, she was paying a lot more attention to him in an effort to see past his façades. 

On the other hand, she was paying a lot more attention to him in an effort to see past his façades. 

No one in his life knew him nearly as well as Chat Noire did. He basked in her attention, and cherished every time she remembered something about him. In a way, he even loved that she could see right through him. He loved being known.

But it also scared him. She knew when he was hurting, and she expected him to share his burdens with her, because they were partners. But wasn't it easier to suffer alone?

So when she cornered him after an akuma attack, he knew what was coming. 

"Bug," Chat Noire said, resting a clawed hand on his arm, "are you all right?"

He aimed for a carefree smile. "Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

Her expression told him she wasn't fooled. "You've seemed...off these past few weeks. You look exhausted, you're jumpy, and you're not making as many obnoxious puns as usual."

The last point made him smile. "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"No," she said, moving closer, "you can't. So?"

Bug sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all."

Her bright blue eyes fixed on him with a determination that was free of judgment. That scared him, too. "That's all?"

"Mmhmm." He tried smiling again, but she just kept looking at him, as though willing him to elaborate. Eventually, the silence was too much. Letting out a dramatic sigh, he said, "Fine. I'm having nightmares. Are you happy now?"

"Thrilled," Chat deadpanned. Her expression shifted to something gentler. "Is it something we should talk about?"

Chat Noire had given up on asking him, _do you want to talk about it?_ , because his answer was always, _no thanks, I'll be fine!_. Instead, she framed it like a team discussion, so he'd be more inclined to give her the details. He even knew she was doing it, but it worked every time.

He scuffed a foot against the concrete. "Yeah, it probably is."

"Find us a seat and I'll get the ice cream?" she asked. He nodded, and she squeezed his arm before vaulting away.

That was another habit Chat Noire had picked up: getting him a sugary treat whenever they had to talk about something difficult. He couldn't tell if it was her way of bribing him into being honest or her trying to make the experience a little less painful. Or both.

A few minutes later, Wonder Bug had a rooftop picked out and Chat Noire returned with two ice cream cones. She settled beside him, handed him one of the cones, and waited.

"You die sometimes," he started, and she almost dropped her ice cream. "I don't know how much you remember about certain akumas, but...I mean, you always get hurt. You usually get hurt badly. And sometimes you blink out of existence or die."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him, dessert forgotten. "And I know what you're going to say, that it's all part of the job, and that it doesn't really matter because the miraculous cure can always bring you back - because _I_ can always bring you back-" his voice cracked.

Chat moved closer, taking his free hand in hers. He looked at their entwined fingers through tears. "I can remember every single one."

Her hand was soft, and her voice was softer. "Is that what your nightmares are about?"

Wonder Bug nodded. "Tikki always wakes me up, and she tries to help, but - it's bad."

She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry, Bug."

"Thanks." He squeezed her hand back, and then released it so they could eat their ice cream. They sat in silence for a few minutes. 

"What if I could be there when you woke up?"

He looked at her. "What?"

She pursed her lips, thinking. "Do you think it would help? If you could see me when you woke up. See that I"m alive and okay."

Images of waking up to his partner's face flooded through his mind. _Yes, please._ "I guess," he said. "But it's not like we could have a sleepover or something."

"Why not?"

Bug raised his eyebrows. "Here I thought you were the one keeping us from revealing our identities to each other," he said, nudging her with his elbow.

"That's not what I'm saying," she said, giving him a Look. "Just - would anyone notice if you didn't come home tonight?"

He didn't even have to think about it. "Nope."

"Then meet me here at eleven." Chat shoved the last of her cone into her mouth, standing. "I have an idea."

* * *

Wonder Bug looked curious when he met her later that night, but she didn't explain right away. Instead, Chat led him to an abandoned building across town. 

"Here we are," she said, leaping through the window. "Home, sweet home."

It wasn't much, but Chat Noire was proud of how she'd furnished the room in just a few hours. The only real furniture was a pull-out couch and a coffee table, both from a local charity shop. She'd also managed to find a colorful rug that wasn't too worn, and a handful of battery-powered lanterns, which were hung from the ceiling.

The expression on Wonder Bug's face as he took in the room was something like awe. "It's not fancy, or anything," Chat said, feeling self-conscious, "but I thought it would be good for us to have some kind of safe house. Just in case."

"A secret hideout," Bug said, grinning.

"A secret hideout," she agreed, relaxing. "And - you don't have to, obviously, if you'd rather not - it's a place where we can both sleep. You know, to see if having me nearby will help with your nightmares."

Before she knew what was happening, Wonder Bug pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," he said into her hair.

Chat leaned into his warmth, wrapping her arms around him. "What are partners for?"

The pull-out couch seemed brilliant when she bought it - less expensive and less trouble to move than two separate beds - but looking at it now, she was worried sharing a bed might be too intimate, even for hem. But Wonder Bug didn't seem bothered by it at all; he just claimed a side, cracked a few jokes, and settled under the sheets.

A week ago, if anyone had told Chat Noire she'd be sharing a bed with her partner, she would have scoffed (and blushed. Just a little). But sliding under a set of charity shop sheets and resting her head on an old pillow next to him felt like the most natural thing in the world. The lanterns were all turned off, moonlight streamed in through the window, and it soon both heroes dozed off.

Chat Noire woke to a strangled yell. Disoriented and a little scared, it took a moment for her to recognize her partner sitting up on his side of the bed.

"Bug?"

He didn't seem to hear her over the sound of his own labored breathing. It was dark enough that she could just make out his form, hunched over and shaking.

Chat sat up, reaching for him. "Bug, it's me," she whispered, setting a hand on his back. His muscles were drawn too tight, quivering under her fingers. "I'm here. I'm okay."

She shifted around to see his face. The light of the moon illuminated tear tracks on his cheeks, and his eyes were screwed shut. "Look at me," she whispered, cupping his face and brushing his tears away with her thumb. "I'm right here, look at me."

It took a little more coaxing, but Bug opened his eyes. Chat's heart lurched at the frightened look he gave her. "It was just a dream," she soothed. "I'm all right."

His hands - which had been gripping the sheets tight enough to rip them - moved to hold her face. She let him examine her, chest still heaving, body still trembling. After a moment, he looped and arm around her waist and pulled her against him. 

Chat moved with him, rubbing slow circles on his back, murmuring reassurances into his shoulder. They stayed that way until his breathing slowed down.

His muscles seemed to relax all at once. Wonder Bug fell back on the mattress, pulling Chat with him. She squeaked in surprise, landing on top of him, his arms still tight around her.

"I'm sorry," Bug whispered, voice hoarse.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Chat said into his pillow.

She readjusted so she was laying across his chest, one hand curled around his shoulder while the other carded through his hair. In turn, he kept one arm curled around her waist and scratched her head with the other.

It wasn't long before Chat Noire started purring; on instinct, she knew this purr wasn't out of happiness. It was for comfort.

Chat had no idea how long they stayed that way. Wonder Bug was warm and comfortable, and she could still smell traces of her own scent on him. She nuzzled into his neck, and he rested his cheek on her head. She could feel the rhythm of his breathing, hear the beating of his heart, and in that moment nothing else existed. Just he weight of his arm around her, the sleepy warmth of his body, and the sound o his steady breathing.

She was jolted out of sleep again by the sound of the battery-powered alarm clock. Delightfully warm and and unwilling to get up, Chat grabbed her pillow and smacked the clock until it stopped beeping. 

It was then that she realized the two heroes were still wrapped around each other. "I guess that's our cue," Chat said as Bug stirred. "Our families will notice if we're gone much longer."

Wonder Bug's arms tightened around her. "Just another minute," he said, his voice low and raspy. "Please."

Chat found she really didn't have it in her to argue. So she just snuggled closer to her partner and closed her eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks for reading!


End file.
